To understand which brands and sources are shaping Black Friday AI answers, we analyzed 279,741 AI responses and more than 1.2 million citation events across 25 retail categories in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and France. We also examined changes year over year in the US, where our Black Friday Index was already running in 2025.
This year’s Black Friday recommendations show some brands gaining ground, familiar names holding their lead, and local specialists standing out in their markets. AT&T has moved from 14th to sixth in US phone visibility, while Wayfair appears in 85% of eligible US furniture answers, up from 64.4% a year ago. Ulta and Chewy have retained first place in US beauty and pets. In Europe, local specialists lead categories ranging from appliances to jewelry and outdoor equipment.
The sources behind those recommendations show where marketers can act: making offer conditions explicit, organizing seasonal pages around specific buying decisions, and getting accurate information into the publisher guides AI engines cite.
Three findings stand out:
- The Black Friday shortlist can change substantially from one year to the next. AT&T’s rise and Wayfair’s expanding lead show why last year’s position should be a starting point for this year’s campaign.
- Local leaders have the right to win in their markets. Currys, Ocarat, and Bergfreunde show how specialists can lead their categories with content that addresses the products and purchase conditions shoppers care about locally.
- New content can enter AI answers while the campaign is underway. A Times Union sale calendar recorded its first citation on its publication date and became the second-ranked page in our four-market snapshot.
Holiday shopping brings more commercial questions to AI
Our August analysis of 7.5 million ChatGPT conversations found a sharp year-over-year increase in commercial conversations, with particularly pronounced spikes around Black Friday and Christmas. We expect to see again this year creating countless opportunities to influence what and where consumers buy. This year's Index shows who appears in answers; the cited sources show the information engines use to support their recommendations.
The category shortlist is changing
Looking at the historical data, we compared the same 1,250 tracked US prompts on ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews across two seven-day windows, each falling 24 to 18 days before Black Friday. Visibility is the share of eligible brand-naming answers that mention a brand, averaged equally across the two engines. The year-over-year findings below are US-only.
Selected US category changes, November 4–10, 2025 versus November 3–9, 2026. ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews, equally weighted. Brands can appear together in an answer, so visibility rates do not sum to 100%.
AT&T makes its Black Friday offers easier to evaluate
AT&T’s visibility in US phone recommendations grew 645% year over year, moving it from 14th to sixth as Boost Mobile and OnePlus lost ground. Boost Mobile’s visibility fell 82%, taking it from 11th to 19th, while a 76% decline pushed OnePlus from 12th to 22nd.
This year, AT&T’s Black Friday hub was cited in 11.7% of monitored answers, up from 0.7% last year. The current page brings together named offers, monthly prices, trade-in requirements, and FAQs about online and in-store availability, helping shoppers understand both the promotion and what they need to qualify.
The takeaway: put the conditions beside the headline offer and answer the questions that determine whether someone can buy. The hub is one part of AT&T’s broader gain, which also extends to answers citing retailers, publishers, and comparison sites.
Wayfair shows the value of third-party publisher coverage
Wayfair retained first place in US Furniture as its visibility grew 32%, from 64.4% to 85.0%. Over the same period, Macy’s visibility fell 53% and Kohl’s fell 77%.
Wayfair’s placement in a Forbes Black Friday furniture guide put its pop-up sale on the most-cited US Furniture page in the 2026 comparison week. The guide ranks first among 983 pages, with an 8.32% citation share, 2.9 times that of the next page. That placement gave Wayfair exposure beyond its own website: 90.9% of answers citing the guide also named the retailer.
The takeaway: pitch your Black Friday offers to well-known publishers AI is citing in your category. Give editors confirmed pricing, availability, and purchase conditions that make your deals easy to feature and understand.
Ulta and Chewy retain first place
Ulta and Chewy retained first place in their US categories while increasing visibility. Both also kept their main Black Friday hubs at the same URLs across the two years.
Same matched US weeks and two-engine comparison as the chart above.
Ulta’s Black Friday hub ranked first among cited US Beauty pages in both years. Its current content explains weekly offer changes, exclusions, membership eligibility, and whether offers are available online or in store. Chewy’s hub rose from sixth to first among cited US Pets pages at the same URL. Its cited collections, including dog beds, show product options, ratings, and delivery information.
Maintain an event destination that stays useful as the sale changes, with updated dates and conditions, links to priority categories, and consistent information across collection and product pages.
Local specialists lead in their categories
Amazon leads the combined four-market leaderboard at 48.4% visibility. However, within individual countries and categories, specialists set the pace too: Chewy in US pets, Currys in UK appliances, Ocarat in French jewelry and watches, and Bergfreunde in German outdoors.
October 27–November 9, 2026, across ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode, and Google AI Overviews, equally weighted. Each brand ranks first in its country/category.
Currys gives its Black Friday hub depth across product lines
Currys’ Black Friday hub, the most-cited page in UK Appliances, combines extensive FAQs with detailed guidance across its product lines. The FAQs answer questions about sale timing, collection, returns, price guarantees, and which categories feature discounts. Near the bottom, dedicated sections explain Black Friday across TVs, computing, gaming, phones, and appliances, with links to category offers.
For a retailer with a broad catalog, this offers a useful structure: answer questions about the sale, then explain what shoppers can expect in each priority product line.
Ocarat gives important categories their own seasonal destination
Ocarat’s Black Friday jewelry page ranks first among cited pages in France Jewelry & Watches; its watch page ranks third. Together, they account for 7.00% of category citations, compared with 0.44% for its general Black Friday page.
The French-language pages organize the event around choices shoppers make: rings, necklaces, bracelets, materials, and men’s, women’s, and connected watches. Product groupings and selection advice help shoppers navigate the sale within each category.
Give priority categories their own seasonal destinations, with relevant product groupings, confirmed offers, and clear conditions. Keep prices and availability synchronized with the catalog so shoppers can use those pages to choose and buy throughout the event.
Bergfreunde connects the sale to the activity
Bergfreunde’s Black Weekend page is the most-cited page in German Outdoors, with 2.79% of category citations. It connects winter preparation to hiking, skiing, climbing, cycling, and camping, then links to equipment and clothing collections, including hiking boots, backpacks, and merino layers.
That offers another way to organize seasonal content: start with what the shopper is preparing to do, then connect the activity to suitable equipment and current offers.
What types of content are winning?
Across the broader analysis of 200,115 cited pages, several formats stand out for how they answer specific shopping questions. Ranks in this section cover all four markets combined, October 27–November 9, across the four equally weighted engines.
- Sale timelines: Ulta’s early-deals hub separates early offers and upcoming deal periods. It ranks eighth overall and first within both Beauty and Personal Care.
- Focused collections: Walmart’s smart-plug collection presents compatibility, pack sizes, variants, and prices. It ranks 33rd within Smart Home and in the top 0.5% overall.
- Clear offer conditions: G2’s software deals guide includes pricing, billing, eligibility, renewal, and expiration details. It ranks fifth within Software & Subscriptions and 161st overall.
- Publisher calendars: Times Union’s retailer calendar ranks second overall; the New York Post timing guide ranks fourth. Both span 24 categories, with breadth across the event rather than a top-five position in any one category.
Useful content can enter answers during the campaign
Our CMO’s AEO Guide with VaynerX reports a median of 6.8 days between publication and first citation among the cited content studied. The Times Union calendar provides a faster example: its publication date and first recorded citation both fall on October 28, 2026. It went on to become the second-ranked page in the four-market snapshot.
It is not too late for a final push on Black Friday content. Identify the buying questions your pages leave unanswered and give shoppers useful, current information while they are still deciding.
Act now
Explore the Profound Black Friday Index to see which brands appear in your category, or download a copy of Profound’s Playbook for Black Friday & Cyber Monday. Then review your seasonal pages for missing offer details, unanswered buying questions, and outdated information, and prioritize updates while shoppers are still deciding.
Methodology
The primary snapshot covers October 27–November 9, 2026, inclusive Eastern Time, across the US, UK, Germany, and France. It contains 279,741 recorded responses and 1,219,663 citation events from ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode, and Google AI Overviews. Each market has 50 visibility prompts in each of 25 categories. There are 3,750 language-specific prompt records; the English set runs in both the US and UK.
The year-over-year comparison covers November 4–10, 2025 versus November 3–9, 2026, using the same 1,250 US English prompt identities, with year references updated where applicable. We selected ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews because they were the only engines available in our 2025 data, and weighted them equally in both years. The periods contain 18,043 and 17,500 responses, respectively, and both fall 24 to 18 days before Black Friday.
